A Little Help From My Friends

We went to the Monastery today which is a beautiful place right here in Rockdale County.  All these photos were taken in the church, on the grounds or in the greenhouse where the monks are experts at bonsai.  They also grow herbs, vegetables and flowers.  Richard bought me a rosemary plant and we hope that it will do well for us!  Everything looked so wonderful...the monks in charge of the greenhouse really know what they are doing.
We also went to another greenhouse today...it was the plant sale at the Rockdale Career Academy and they also had some beautiful plants, we got a red geranium, a plant called a primrose which has kind of a floating type of purple flower on it, and four small tomato plants that were labeled "German Queen".  Now, one of my favorite bloggers that I consider a friend..you know that I thought of you! www.librarianwithsecrets.blogspot.com  Oh, I also bought two aloe plants, and of course when I put them on the counter to pay for them you know I said, "Allo, Allo"! 
After we got back home, I got online to look at my blog.  (I am still GREEN at knowing how to do things on my blog.) I managed to somehow hit the Ctrl key and then the zero key...do not do this while you are on your blog!  It will shrink your blog, trust me, it will... I would like to thank Meike in Germany at the above blog,  Kay from bluebonnet heaven which is Texas at www.myrandomactsofreading.blogspot.com and also Silke, who is another nice German lady but lives in Savannah, Georgia and her blog is www.silkepowers.blogspot.com

A big thank you to Meike, Kay and Silke for coming to my aid.  I have since deleted that post asking for help since the problem has been resolved.  Y'all are just the best.  I really do get by with a little help from my friends...

Bunny Money

Georgia is number one! According to the magazine "Bloomberg Businessweek",  Georgia tops the list as the state with the biggest amount of losers in the states that have lotteries.  They have determined this by figuring the total annual ticket sales minus total annual prize payout divided by the total annual personal income of the state's residents.   Massachusetts is close to us in number but Georgia is number one! Oh wait, that's not good is it?...
  With the MEGA MILLIONS jackpot at $540 million for tomorrow night (THE BIGGEST IN HISTORY!!!) it makes me wonder how many more tickets will be sold.  I heard on a newscast tonight that the odds of winning this lottery is 175 million to 1, and they compared that to the odds of becoming a saint which is only 20 million to 1.  So you see, they are telling us....we still have a chance!
(Quick, what movie is that from?  You don't win anything, you will just have my undying respect, whoever answers first!)

Now, here is my question to you...what would would you do if you won $54 million dollars? Hey, it never hurts to dream about it, does it? Tell me, I 'm nosy that way!  If any of you do, I have written about AWARE which is a wonderful organization that rehabilitates wildlife and returns them to the wild...that could be something that you could do with your money. www.awareone.org

Also, have you heard of theWild Rose Rescue Ranch in Texas? There are some adorable photos of a dove that cuddles up to the animals there and mothers them like a mother hen, here is the link   www.wildroserescueranch.com/noahandthebunnies   Once again, money would be helpful to them!

Look forward to hearing about your lottery jackpot dreams.  Please tell me what you think of the Wild Rose Rescue Ranch and the photos of this bird with the protective wing over the wild creatures...

Titanic

In April, in just a few weeks, the movie Titanic will be in movie theaters but this time with special 3D glasses!  I have seen photos of people who have gone on cruises and the cruise ships have special photo areas that are made up to look like the Grand Staircase of the Titanic so that you may have your photo made with that lovely background! Never mind that 1,514 people perished on that ship and was one of the greatest tragedies in peacetime maritime history.

 Now, please don't get me wrong, I truly find the story of the Titanic fascinating. And I hope that anyone who watches the movie will look further and find that Margaret Brown (called Molly Brown in the film and known as The Unsinkable Molly Brown) is a much more fascinating person than can hardly be described in a movie!  Anything that is non-fiction is what I really like to read and to also see in a film version.  (If a movie is a true story or based on a true story....that is my kind of movie.)   In England, this week, there was a mini-series which is by Julian Fellowes (the same man who wrote "Downton Abbey") about the Titanic and I have read that this will be shown in the USA during the month of April.  (The Titanic sunk on April 15th, 1912, so you know since it has been 100 years, it will be shown to coincide with that date.) We all know the story, I am sure, but I wonder if you have ever read a book called "A Night To Remember" by Walter Lord.  If not, I highly recommend it to you.  You may read about the sinking of the ship and watch a movie or TV series about it...but how about hearing about it from someone who was there?  I have found a video of  Eva Hart, one of the survivors and I wanted to share it with you..."That is what I saw, that is what I remember"....

Peace Will Guide The Planets

Hey, you know that if someone talks about being able to see planets in the night sky, that it will remind me of "The Age of Aquarius", the song that was a big hit in 1969, by The Fifth Dimension.  Doesn't everyone think of it? (Anyone, my age should, anyway!) 

When the moon is in the seventh house, and Jupiter aligns with Mars,
then Peace will guide the planets and Love will steer the stars...

I just spent some time outside looking at the sky. It's a beautiful clear night.   The moon is very bright, and from what I have read on the internet, the closest bright object is Venus and below that is Jupiter.  We, in the Atlanta area, are supposed to see even more but the sky has a lot of light in it where I live and we also have tall trees behind us and planes going over...I wish I could be at the top of Arabia Mountain right now, the planets and stars would be even brighter there!

Richard has tried to get a photo with our new camera using a tripod...want to see?  He thinks he knows what to do now, and is outside again and is trying to get a better shot.  Richard thinks he moved slightly so the moon looks like it is in a shape like a heart and since I am talking about love and peace guiding and steering us...I think that this is the right photo to show you.

See You On The Path!

http://pathfoundation.org/2011/12/twenty-years-the-path-foundation/

Arabia Mountain!  The Path foundation is responsible for all the lovely trails at Arabia Mountain, and for a total of 160 miles of trails in Georgia.  Some of the trails make use of unused rail lines and if you click on that link above you will find a video that shows the Silver Comet Trail making use of an old railroad trestle. (That is what looks like a high bridge at the very beginning.)

If you don't believe that a very small group of individuals can make a difference, you will believe it after you watch that video. Towards the beginning, you will see a close up of white blossoms on a tree, those are dogwoods that are blooming and they are at their peak just now! Even though this is mostly of the Silver Comet Trail, at the end when the biker goes over the bridge, that trail over the South River is right here in Rockdale County!  They are working on the trail now and it will follow the South River to the Monastery. This is wonderful news for us as we are only five miles from the Monastery.

Yesterday, on our drive to the baby shower that I attended, we drove past beautiful farmland and pastures and ... an unused railroad line with a very high railroad trestle!  There was a big sign posted that said, "NO RAILS TO TRAILS" and my Daddy told me that the people who live there are fighting the idea of a trail coming to that part of the county (it is Newton county, the next county over from Rockdale.)  I have read that the neighbors of Arabia also fought it at first, but were gradually convinced to allow it and now, it appears, that all are happy with the arrangement of having a nature trail almost in their back yards...
I still plan to do a post on the National Parks, I have so many wonderful notes that I have taken ...but since I can hardly read my own handwriting these days, it will have to wait... if you get the chance to watch that video, let me know what you think!

Arabia Mountain-Spring Beauty

We just had the most beautiful weather in the Atlanta area this weekend.  The dogwoods are blooming and the azaleas seem very full and colorful. The sky was a beautiful blue with the most beautiful clouds and with wildflowers blooming too, everywhere you looked was photo-worthy.  Don't believe me? We made it to Arabia Mountain on Saturday.  See for yourself!

The bright red diamorpha have now bloomed with tiny white flowers.  From a distance, they look pink.
This area was quarried heavily but it is such a wide open space and the flowers and greenery are taking over.  It is a wonderful open space but we are on our way to Arabia Lake.

There are some very large rocks that we walk past and Richard thought this one looked a bit like a T-Rex. 

This plant is a tradescantia.  We saw this at Stone Mountain last  year and now we have seen it at Arabia Mountain! Amazing where it grows, it must be one tough plant.

As we were walking on this rocky terrain towards the frog pond which is at the base of this side of the mountain, we heard a noise that sounded a bit like little boys knocking marbles together.  Does anyone know what that could be? We also heard that sound later at the frog pond itself and also at the little creek near the lake.  Does a frog make that noise? Richard was able to get a shot of this beautiful dragonfly at the frog pond, that dusty blue was gorgeous! We don't know what it is called.  Can anyone tell me?

The jasmine has stopped blooming now so it is the time for this little beauty.  It is called a crossvine and is related to a trumpet flower, can you see how they look like trumpets? They are everywhere, often growing up high in a tree and you will see the blossoms at your feet before you see the vine.

We have made it to Arabia Lake! We were happily surprised to see that almost the whole perimeter of the lake was covered in a lilly pad type of plant that was blooming with yellow flowers.

This looked just like pink honeysuckle to me and that is, in fact, what people call it.  It is really a wild azalea and that pink is the most beautiful color.

The vernal pools on the top of Arabia have dried up now, not surprising with the heat that we have had.   We met a nice guy at the top of the mountain on Saturday from West Virginia and I told him about my blog. I wonder if he will find it and read this? If so, he could leave a comment and let you know the beauty here is real.   No trick photography!  Nothing photo-shopped! Just beauty captured by our eyes and our small camera...

Crocheted Owl/ Diaper Cake

Very pleased that Sue from SIBOL received my owl today.  Apparently, the postman could not read the postcode that I somehow must have printed incorrectly and it took a while to get to England.  Oh well! For those who don't know, SIBOL is the acronym for sunshine international blankets of love and I really like to read Sue's blog.  It is www.sunshineinternationalblanketsoflove.blogspot.com   Sue has several "challenges" where she asks those who crochet or knit to make squares along a certain theme.  Won't the "Owl" blanket be a good one?  Sue receives the squares and then artfully arranges them and crochets the squares together, puts a border around each one and then delivers them to those in elderly care homes in England.  Sue receives squares from around the world, so they truly are international blankets.  Thanks to Sue for letting me know that this little guy was finally able to overcome my bad handwriting and made it to England.
Now, remember I told you I was in the midst of preparing for a baby shower.  I will be going there tomorrow and will be taking a diaper cake...Want to see how I do it? It's easy, if I can do it, ANYBODY can do it.  (They are called nappy cakes in England and Australia!)

This polka dot blanket (I love polka dots!) had a very pale pink rough kind of stitch around the side.  I took some lavender yarn and joined the yarn in one corner and just crocheted away...all the way around the blanket in a single crochet.  I could have gone around it again and made it a more lacy edge by doing a picot edging, but I'm a plain sort of gal and just liked that clean straight lavender edge on it.  What do you think?

Oh, and you know those women who always have beautiful nails and perfect hair and are always dressed beautifully?   I hope to be that like that one day, but the outlook doesn't look too good.

Ta-DA!  I think you can see from the photos how I did it.  I use clothes pins and rubber bands and just roll the diapers up and shape them into a round cake shape!  It really is best if you have a blanket or something that goes really flat so you can smooth that around each layer of diapers so it looks like icing.  You are supposed to pin the blanket at the back with covered baby diaper pins but I don't know if they even make those anymore, so it is just pinned together at the back with regular large safety pins. My second layer was actually girls trousers with a lacy bottom so it wouldn't lie as flat as I wanted it to, that layer is tied up with a white ribbon. It's a good idea to have something like a wooden spoon that you can decorate if you like or something similar...I found a little heart wand that was long and sturdy and so was perfect to push through both layers of diapers to kind of hold it together.
I fell in love with this little doll and knew I wanted it on a baby girl's diaper cake even though it says
" First Valentine's Day".  It's so cute that I hope the new mother won't mind. After all, that baby will have her first Valentine's Day next February!  The doll is sitting on top of a washcloth that I DID edge in a lacy edging and I hope the new mother will like that too! Very pleased I could wedge a Dr. Seuss book in there, Dr. Seuss being one of my favorites.  And "The Lorax" is a little onesie for a newborn!  I truly love to make diaper cakes and please, if you know anyone who is having a baby, I encourage you to make one too.  Let me know if you do!    I have seen them made with just diapers and ribbons, and I have also seen them with lots of gifts stuffed into them. Often, people will wrap the whole thing up in plastic, but I leave mine like this, just have to try to balance it on a hard piece of paper lined cardboard and get it to the baby shower.   Wish me luck!
 

DIAPER CAKE UPDATE:  Newsflash! Stop the presses! Overnight, the second layer of the diaper cake had settled making it look even messier than before, after frantic last minute panicking and more time spent with it, the diaper cake has now another layer and paper which probably clashes with the polka dots, but the artist in charge likes it anyway! I have added a crocheted flower which is tied to the baby wash on the front and now the doll is carefully perched at the very top. Since this is now so heavy, I found a plastic plate for it to rest upon. What do you think? It's got to be this since I have run out of time!

BABY SHOWER UPDATE: The baby shower was wonderful and the mother-to-be, Melissa, was just glowing! My cousin, Chris, was very, very happy too! (Can you tell by those beautiful dimples?)

It was a beautiful day for a shower...the dogwoods were in perfect bloom and the sky was amazing.

Melissa and Chris have lots of family and friends, look at all the vehicles lined up on both sides of the road.  (And there were more you can't see! )  What a wonderful showering of love upon these parents to be!

Patriot Guard Riders/Song of Hope

If you feel in need of some hope and encouragement (and isn't that something we can all have more of ?), please watch this video that I have here for you.  This was from a few years ago and is from a high school production of "The Man Of La Mancha".   The sound quality is not the best but this young man sings so well and so earnestly that I felt very moved by his performance.   Please let me know if you think that this is as good as I think it is.  I watched some very professional actors and singers do this but I felt the sincerity of this was very good.  I have already had this song on one of my earlier posts which was the hit song by Andy Williams and was in a car TV ad, but it is too good a song not to have it on here again.   We are all in need of remembering to follow that star, no matter how hopeless, no matter how far...

In the midst of preparing for a baby shower this weekend, there has been a death of one of my son's friends.  They were good friends during the years that they were in Boy Scouts together.  His name is Stephen Bost and he was only twenty-two years old.  We just got back from the visitation at the funeral home.  Since he was in the Air Force, there was a Patriot Honor Guard stationed at the front entrance.  Have you ever heard of them?  Many of them ride motorcyles and they stand respectfully at attention and hold the doors for those who enter and leave and they hold very large American flags, flags that are 3 by 5 feet.  It is a very moving thing to see.  If needed, they shield the family from any protesters and drown out the protesters by singing patriotic songs or by reving their motorcyles.  I am filled with admiration for them.  Here is a link to what they do. http://www.americanrider.com/output.cfm?id=2407051 

Please forgive me if I have not had the time to read all your wonderful posts that I so much enjoy reading, I hope to get on track soon.  Please say a prayer for the family of this young man...and I thank you in advance.

Chagall's Windows

At the age of 21, Sarah D'Avigdor died in a boating accident.  As a memorial to her, her parents commissioned Marc Chagall to do a stained glass window in All Saints Church in Tudeley in Kent, England, as she had so admired his paintings at the Louvre.  Chagall was only asked to do the one window, but Chagall being Chagall...he did all twelve!

What is that painting by David Hockney doing on here?  Young as she was, Sarah D'Avigdor admired this artist and was among one of the first to buy one of his paintings.  She didn't buy this painting though, the reason that I chose this one is just a personal one, the young man seated in this painting looks very much like my husband when he was younger, with long dark hair, and even the tilt of his head!

I found a clip on Youtube which shows the windows from the church and you can also see the description of them on this site www.tudeley.org/chagall.htm  Once on that site, there are two videos there that you may want to watch.  

I have not seen these windows by Chagall but I hope to see them one day.  One of Richard's friends lives not too far away from this church and he has told me that he would take us when we visit.  (I am holding you to this, Dave!) 

Marc Chagall is one of those artists that I really like and find fascinating.  You may read more about him here  http://www.chagallpaintings.org/biography.html

May I leave you with something that Chagall wrote about stained glass?  I think it is beautiful...

 For me, a stained glass window is a transparent partition between my heart and the heart of the world...

It has to live through the perception of light.

To read the Bible is to perceive a certain light and the window must make this obvious through its simplicity and grace.

Here, this is the one to click on for Youtube...the other stained glass windows here are all from the Monastery which is right here in Conyers, Georgia.  Notice how the blue window at the monastery ( the very last one on here)  is very much like the blue from Chagall!

Stained glass windows are so beautiful to me and I always look carefully at them at any church I have ever visited.  Do you have any favorites that you could let me know about?  Have you ever seen any that have made you have that sharp intake of breath that means you are inspired by them?

Atlanta News-March 19, 2012

 In Atlanta, many TV viewers thought they could see a face in the clouds over a church where the pastor of the church was being laid to rest.   The TV station  received so many calls that it was reported in the news tonight.  I have put the link here.  The question on the newscast was "Can you see a face?"  My question is: how can you not?  (Jane, you know that you and I can always see a face!)
http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/local_news/Some-See-Face-in-Clouds-During-FOX-5-Story-20120319-pm-pk

Also, because our weather has become so hot so suddenly, all of the trees have begun to blossom all at once and quite rapidly.  This has caused an unprecedented amount of pollen.  We have what is called a pollen count and if it is in the 100's, it is considered high. (Do other countries have pollen counts? I have no idea!) The count for today was 8,164.    Yes,  I did type that correctly.  Eight thousand one hundred sixty four!  It is the highest ever recorded.

We went to Stone Mountain yesterday and it was nice but hot.  84 degrees.  Let's see if I can find any evidence of the yellow pollen...

You can't see the pollen here, but I wanted to take this same photo at about the same time that we took it last year.  Do you recognize it? It is the photo that I use next to my name on my blog!  We think that they cut the tree back a bit.  There was a bit of earth that has been destroyed by some of the snowmaking equipment that is used here for Snow Mountain in the winter and so was covered up by that red plastic.  Otherwise, it would have looked very similar to last year...

There, can you see the yellow pollen beneath these wildflowers?  Stone Mountain had rain the night before this, so the pollen had washed down and then dried.Look at the pollen in the water!  If you look at it carefully, you may see the shape of a heart! (And Sara, you know you can!)

We took some great photos of Stone Mountain yesterday.  (Okay, okay...you know that Richard did anyway!)   I have run out of time for today...will have to wait until my eyes are rested.  Oh, maybe just one... Never seen green come this quickly on the trees before!